One Pot Cheeseburger Pasta

Sometimes I just run out of ideas of what to write about. Seriously. I know we’ve all been there. I mean, there’s only so much I can say about a dish or so much complaining I can do about work. Okay. I heard that snort. I know I complain about work a lot, but it’s the biggest source of stress in my life and what’s keeping me from creating amazing recipes for you to create at home.

So, what’s a blogger to do? Look around their surroundings for ideas of what to write about. That’s what I’ve been doing lately. They say you should write about what you know. Well, I’m going to write about what I don’t know.

We sit in traffic on the way home. LOTS of traffic. Like 8 miles takes 30 minutes traffic? I hope you get the picture. It’s really slow. This gives me time to scroll through my Bloglovin to get ideas, make notes about what to have for dinner, type of a post on my phone (as if that REALLY happens), or just look out the window at the world slowly moving by. Like really slowly moving.

One day on the way home I saw something that didn’t quite make sense. You see, on the right side of the highway are is grassy area with some trees, weeds, and wildflowers. Beyond that area is a cement/vinyl siding barrier to provide some sound protection for the houses on the other side of the highway. Since there’s a door every several hundred feet, you never quite expect to see anything on this side of the barrier.

On the way home I saw a pile of balls. Soccer balls. Basketballs. Softballs. And maybe a golf ball or ten? Balls. All in a pile around the base of a tree. I saw it once and just didn’t quite believe it. I saw it again and was still just as baffled, but now I look for it. Not only to make sure I’m not dreaming, but to see if the pile gets bigger.

Who’s making the pile? How did they get there? WHAT IN THE WORLD are they doing there? These are the things that go through my mind when I see the pile just sitting there. It sort of reminds me of that movie Gnomeo? Where all the yard ornaments get together and have meetings, parties, etc?

So, I sit and ponder what types of parties there are at the base of that tree. Do they have committees? What type of ball is on which committee? Like the golf balls would be landscaping and grounds crew. Baseballs would be social committee; it’s more social than all the other games. Football? Food and catering. Hello? Tailgate?

These are the things I think about when I see that pile of balls sitting by the tree. I know. My mind wanders to weird places sometimes, but I think it’s good. That means I’m always trying to be creative in all aspects. This helps me to be more creative in the kitchen. For recipes like this one.

And with recipes like this one, it doesn’t matter what the traffic is like. You can easily throw this meal together and have it on the table in less than 30. And, for traffic like we have in my area, that’s a win win!!

You see? I always manage to bring the story back full circle. That’s not easy to do sometimes. Sometimes, I truly get on tangents and have a hard time getting back to the recipe I’m sharing. I usually have to retrace my steps and then I find my way back, like leaving mental breadcrumbs.

This One Pot Cheeseburger Pasta truly does remind me of those burgers I used to get a Friendly’s. The delicious burger flavor is throughout the whole dish. The cheese, ketchup, and mustard bring the burger taste full circle; like a delicious patty melt. These condiments provide unique taste to this pasta dish and also makes for a delicious sauce to coat the “bun” – AKA pasta. And the cheese? Adds that lovely, melty, cheesy flavor that we all love in a good burger.

See what I mean? You can’t tell me you’re not itching to pick up a fork and dive right in. If you can, then I don’t know what to say. Maybe try another recipe? I have plenty! Several of them are one pot meals, so, yeah.

Anyway.

Where do you get your favorite burger from? Have you ever thought to turn it into a meal at home?